This work focuses on experimental study of cross-property connections that link up effective linear elastic and electrical conductive properties of heterogeneous materials. Such connections are especially useful when one property (electrical conductivity) is easier to measure th…
A combination of experiments and modeling are used to address the vibration durability of structures subjected to different random vibration environments. Presented in this work are a set of experimental data comparing the rate of change of the first natural frequency and the me…
Load associated fatigue cracking is one of the major distress types occurring in flexible pavement systems. Asphalt Concrete (AC) mixtures flexural beam fatigue testing in the laboratory has been used for several decades and is expected to be an integral part of the new Superpav…
Alloy 800HT is a heat resistance material that is used in high temperature industrial applications such as steam/hydrocarbon reforming and ethylene plant tubes. Long time exposure under these service conditions cause the alloy to undergo microstructural changes. The alloy, in fa…
The understanding of the cyclic deformation processes and their interaction with the kinetics of stage-I crack growth under stress control is rudimentary in copper single crystals. This understanding is necessary to conceive a method for summing damage under variable amplitude l…
Asphalt cement is viscoelastic material, which is time and temperature dependent. At high temperatures asphalt cement behaves as a viscous material. At below freezing temperatures it acts as a brittle solid and is more susceptible to temperature cracking. In order to improve bot…
The fracture of water ballast tank (WBT) coatings due to thermal stresses is widely recognised as an issue. Upon coating fracture, rapid corrosion of the tanker steel structure will occur, leading to expensive structure repairs or even tanker scrapping. In this project, the frac…
Despite a rise in breast cancer incidence, mortality rates have fallen. This improvement in mortality is due to the success of anti-cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Such treatments, however, are known to be associated with a range of symptoms. A number of…
Low pressure steam turbine last stage blade behaviour was investigated and researched over duration of this PhD project period. The aim of the research was to enhance the life of last stage blades by investigation and mitigation of the accumulative damage throughout the life of …
The main aim of this research was to investigate the behaviour of adhesive joints exposed to repeated low-velocity impact i.e. impact fatigue (IF), and to compare this loading regime with standard fatigue (SF), i.e. non-impacting, constant amplitude, sinusoidal loading condition…
The demand for energy from developed and developing economies of the world is driving the search for energy resources to more challenging environments. The exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons now requires the drillbit to hit pay zones from drillships or platforms that a…
The thesis aimed to analyse the acute neuromuscular (NM) response during and following maximum strength and power training methods. The primary aim of study one was to establish the reliability of biomechanical and surface electromyographic (sEMG) measurements during barbell squ…
Barely Visible Impact Damage (BVID) can occur when laminated composite material is subject to impact, i.e. from runway debris or dropped tools, and may result in a significant reduction in the compressive strength of composite structures. A component containing BVID subjected to…
This randomized, placebo-controlled trial investigated the use of biofield healing (termed energy healing), compared to mock healing, for the alleviation of fatigue and inflammation after adjuvant or neoadjuvant therapy for breast cancer. Thirty-three women breast cancer survivo…
This study develops new quantitative thermoelastic stress analysis (TSA) techniques for fracture and fatigue damage analysis of composite materials. The first part deals with the thermo-mechanical derivation of two quantitative TSA techniques applied to orthotropic composites wi…
Eco-Core is a fire resistant material for sandwich structural application; it was developed at NC A&T State University. The Eco-Core is made of very small amount of phenolic resin and large volume of flyash by a syntactic process. The process development, static mechanical and f…
There is a need in the railway industry for a flexible solution to the problem of service interruptions due to impacts on railway bridges from highway and other vehicle traffic. One such solution is the placement of a temporary span that can be used on multiple substructure type…
For many high end microelectronics products, the long-term service life may be limited by thermal mismatch induced fatigue, a factor generally assessed by accelerated thermal cycling and extrapolation of the test results to service conditions. The sensitivities of common Lead- f…